


Families Fight, That's What They Do.

by SelSpeaks



Category: Lupin III
Genre: Because we made that Thomas OC and now I cant stoop, Editing what editing, I love him, Yes its that one fight yes I know theres a comic but i will not stop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:01:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25677760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelSpeaks/pseuds/SelSpeaks
Summary: Note: Lupin will be "Arsene" to Thomas and just "Lupin" the rest of the time.Note: Thomas Lupin and Fleur Marie Lupin are OCs made in collaboration with Kena, Spud, and Sol.(Yet again I am not editing before posting. Accept my word vomit as it comes.)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Families Fight, That's What They Do.

**Author's Note:**

> Note: Lupin will be "Arsene" to Thomas and just "Lupin" the rest of the time.
> 
> Note: Thomas Lupin and Fleur Marie Lupin are OCs made in collaboration with Kena, Spud, and Sol.
> 
> (Yet again I am not editing before posting. Accept my word vomit as it comes.)

“Renzo Piano.”

Thomas jumped in his chair and whipped his head towards the door of his office. He had been sipping a fresh mug of coffee and leafing through documents, lost in the swirl of double speak in front of him. In his doorway was a young man, dressed well- if not a bit loud- in a red suit jacket and yellow tie. The man’s hair was dark black, smoothed back, but still a bit ruffled on the sides. Bushy sideburns framed his angular face in a way that wasn’t  _ handsome _ , exactly, but wasn’t bad either. The man was giving a cheeky smile towards Thomas and leaning casually against the doorframe. Thomas frowned.

“Arsene. Why are you here?”

The man’s face dropped into a dramatic frown and he stood up straight.

“Oi, Thomas, is that any way to treat your adoring baby brother? I flew all the way out from Tokyo and that’s all you can say to me?”

Thomas huffed and straightened his glasses before turning back to his papers. Today was a big case. Not as big as his brother’s would be, one day, but big nonetheless. He had learned over the many years of living with Arsene that ignoring him was the best way to deal with him. Eventually his brother would get bored and leave. 

“Anyway,” Arsene sighed. “ _ Renzo Piano _ . You can always tell, you know? So sleek. I’d know it from a mile away- no, TWO miles away even! Five! This one especially.”

Thomas sighed and made a show of not looking up, instead sipping his coffee and twisting his chair slightly away from his brother. Lupin took a few steps into the room.

“Really, do you even know what a masterpiece you work in, Thomas? How long this took to build? And you’re just sitting here in this stuffy office with the blinds closed!” 

Lupin strutted over to Thomas’ desk, leaned over it, and pulled up the blinds behind it. He stretched his arms out over his head and took in a big breath at the sunlight and city below.

“See, Thomas, isn’t this better? Today is an important day after all.”

Thomas’ body tensed. How did his brother know about this case? Was he involved? Was he going to ruin it? This was a huge case for Thomas’ career, he couldn’t have  _ any _ interference. Especially not his younger brother.

“Look, I don’t know what you want but this is  _ important _ to me, Arsene. You need to leave.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. Today is special-”

“Get OUT! You’re always doing this! Coming in whenever you feel like it, doing whatever you want, and leaving the mess for others to clean up. Of course you’d show up today, of  _ course _ you would.” 

Thomas got out of his chair and quickly buttoned the jacket of his grey suit. His brother looked serious now, finally, and there wasn’t a hint of his usual mischief on his face. Thomas pushed up his glasses and grabbed the coffee mug off the desk.

“Look, Arsene, I love you but this...this needs to stop, okay? I cannot handle you messing today up for me. You obviously know what’s going on- God knows how, but you do- and I can’t fathom what you gain from waltzing in here and spewing nonsense of  _ pianos _ -”

“RENZO. PIANO.  _ Renzo Piano,  _ Thomas. The Italian architect! The one who  _ designed this building _ . Well, granted, he has over one hundred people in his company but the point is you’re working in a piece of art and just wasting away here in your dull office with your dull suit and your  _ pre ground coffee _ and-” Lupin was yelling now. He had taken a redeye flight and come straight to the courthouse to see his brother, and was now being unceremoniously kicked out. The smell of coffee taunted him and worsened his mood.

“I do not care at ALL about your silly art ideals, Arsene! Get out of my office!” Thomas shouted. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand, then rubbed at his temple with the other.  _ Wait, what? _ Thomas looked up to see his brother drinking  _ his  _ coffee, slouching, with a ridiculous pout on his face. “See! This is what I mean! You can’t just take whatever you want!”

“I’m a thief, Thomas, that’s my job.” Lupin mumbled into the half-drunk cup.

“You’re a shameful criminal, that’s what you are!”

“It’s our family business! Or did you forget? I know you decided to switch sides, but don’t insult me for taking after dad and grandpa! It’s not like you didn’t get into your fair share of trouble when we were kids.”

“That’s just it, Arsene, when we were  _ children _ . I grew up- you didn’t. You kept up with this- this-” Thomas was waving his hands absently in front of him, desperately trying to find the words to end the argument. 

“What? This job? This way of life? I’m continuing Grandpa’s legacy!”

“No, you’re not! You’re a child who never grew up and cares about nobody else! You think you’re like grandfather?” Thomas stomped over to his brother now. Part of him thought of hitting Arsene, but he knew from experience that he would lose any fight he started. Instead, he pressed his body against his brother’s and looked down at him, eyes locked and noses touching. He lowered his voice before speaking again. 

“At least our grandfather had honor. You are just a petty, selfish, spoiled criminal. Now get out of my office.”

Lupin didn’t move for a moment. Then yet another. Thomas realized after minutes of silence that he had gone too far, even for their usual fighting. He hadn’t ever seen Arsene stand this still before, not once in their lives. Suddenly his brother spun around and walked out the door, slamming it behind him. Thomas took in a sharp breath and walked to his chair. He leaned against the back of his seat and noticed the mug of coffee on his desk, sitting directly in a beam of sunlight. Thomas groaned and let his head fall before sighing loudly to himself.

“Merde.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Thomas, a letter came for you today. I think it might cheer you up!”

Thomas was sitting on the living room couch, TV playing commercials between news segments. It had been four months since his argument with his brother, and the only news on Arsene was… the lack of news. Thomas was starting to worry. On one hand, maybe their argument had stirred something in his baby brother and he was giving up his life of crime. Thomas would be thrilled at that, but deep down he couldn’t imagine such a scenario. More likely was that the police were on his trail and Arsene was hiding out in Cambodia or something. Thomas smiled to himself, thinking of all the postcards he and Fleur had gotten from Arsene’s travels. 

“Oh, a letter? I’ll read it in here, my love!”

His wife, Fleur Marie Lupin, came in from the kitchen with a plate of fruit and a single letter. She was already in pajamas, blonde hair in curlers, and big fluffy slippers on her feet. Thomas admired her for a moment and opened his arms for her to cuddle with him on the couch while they snacked. She got settled in and started flipping through channels.

“Well? Open in!” She smiled up at Thomas expectantly. 

Thomas flipped the letter over in his hands, a small bit of relief washing through him. It was definitely from his brother. Arsene had a flourish to his letters that no one else had. Thomas opened the envelope and started reading. As he read, though, his face fell. 

_ "To Thomas Lupin and Fleur Marie Lupin, _

_ Hope this finds you two well. Haven’t seen you since the wedding. Look, I’ll get to the point, something is seriously wrong with Lupin. He’s going off the rails, way more than I’ve ever seen before, and he won't go to a damn doctor. I’d tie him up but he just wiggles out. He fucking bit me! He started going nuts when he got back from Paris so we figured you might know what’s up with him. Can you call him or something. The man’s gone mad.  _

_ -D. Jigen." _

Another paper was behind that one, and Thomas pulled it out with dread.

_ "To Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, _

_ I hope to meet you both soon! I’m so sorry I couldn’t attend the wedding last year, but I heard it was lovely. Did you get the gifts I sent?  _

_ I’m wondering if either of you have heard from Arsene Lupin recently? I’m concerned for his well being and it seems like nobody can reason with him. Is there any history of mental illness in your family? Has he ever done this before? Please reach out to any of us if you hear from him, it would ease our minds. Maybe all he needs is a vacation with family.  _

_ Much love to you and yours, _

_ Fujiko Mine" _

Fleur was looking up at Thomas now, worry on her face as her husband tensed more as he read. 

“Love, what is it? What’s wrong?”

Thomas looked down at her and stroked her hair gently, letting the papers fall. She picked one up and read it, then the other. Then she flipped one over and chuckled. 

“Oh, Thomas, it’s terrible but…” She snickered again. “Did you see this part here? On the back?” She held up one of the notes.

Thomas looked down at whatever was making his wife laugh among all of this. Taped messily to the back of Fujiko’s letter was a blurry selfie-style photo. In it, Thomas saw, was Jigen and Goemon dogpiled on top of Arsene. Thomas could make out their expressions of annoyance a bit, and Arsene was clearly yelling at them for something. Thomas squinted a bit and could tell that one fuzzy pile in the corner was clothing and the other was… guns? Boxes? In the foreground was a young woman winking and holding up a peace sign for the camera. Despite his stress, Thomas heard a chuckle come out of his throat and carefully removed the picture. 

“Let’s put this with the others?” Fleur asked him hopefully.

“Of course.” 

They both got up lazily and made their way to the fridge, which was covered in post cards and photos from his brother. Thomas opted to put this one on the corner of the freezer with a magnet shaped like a banana. He looked over the fridge and admired the few photos among the letters- some of Arsene posing in front of tourist attractions, a few sneakily taken of his friends, one of him in a full suit next to a blonde woman in a wedding dress (and two more like it, with different people in dresses. Thomas suspected Arsene just loved throwing weddings). He smiled for a moment before the stress flooded his body again. He decided tonight was going to be an early night. 

* * *

  
  


Thomas was again sitting at his desk in his office, paper strewn about in front of him, when he heard a knock at the door. He gave a noncommittal sound of “come in” without looking up. He was swamped with work lately, and wasn’t eating well despite his wife packing lunches and dinners for him. 

“Pardon...monsi-or? Jay...mapelle?”

Thomas looked up quizzically to see a man in a large tan trench coat holding a hat in his hands. The man looked more confused than Thomas did, and was wringing his hat half to death. 

“Um...Would you perhaps prefer… English?” Thomas offered.

The man in front of him perked up and a wave of relief washed over his face. Suddenly, it seemed, the man gained the confidence to step into the room and extend a hand out.

“English! Good! Sir, my name is Inspector Kouichi Zenigata from the ICPO Japan office. I’m officially the head of the Lupin investigation and-”

“Ah, you are looking for my brother, not me, inspector.  _ Arsene _ Lupin. I am  _ Thomas _ Lupin.”

Zenigata’s hand fell back to his side awkwardly.

“Yes, er, well, I’ve been chasing Lupin for a while now and-”

“ _ Arsene _ . We are both ‘Lupin’, inspector. What do you need from me?”

Zenigata sat himself across from Thomas uninvited and leaned his elbows on the desk.

“So yer a prosecutor, eh? Really? So we’re on the same team here! Bit weird considering…”

Thomas huffed and rolled his eyes.

“Yes, considering. To what do I owe this visit?”

Zenigata reached into his coat and pulled out a bent and creased folder with “Lupin France” scribbled on it with a blue pen. He placed it over Thomas’ papers and flipped it open.

“We got reports of these,” Zenigata said, taking out photocopies of two calling cards and pushing them towards Thomas. “One for the, uh, Maison de... l’Ordre des Advocats? And one for here, the courthouse. I don’t think I need to tell you that the other is-”

“The headquarter for the Paris Bar Association,” Thomas said quietly. “What does he want with these places?”

“Well, that’s why I’m here. I was hoping you could help us out with that. Usually his cards say something like ‘I’m gonna steal this big painting on this day at this time,’ but in this case…well it’s a bit puzzling is all.”

Thomas looked down at the photocopies in front of him. Both cards said the same thing in his brother’s over the top script. He groaned and took off his glasses, placing them on the desk, before getting up and leaning his head against the large window of his office. It had been ten months since his fight with his brother, and this wasn’t how he hoped the reunion would go. 

  
  
  


**_“I’m going to steal the Honor of France,_ **

**_~Lupin III”_ **

**Author's Note:**

> FUN FACTS:
> 
> The Paris Courthouse and the Maison de l’Ordre des Advocats (home of Paris Bar Association) were both designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop. They look really cool and you should look at photos of them. It's neat.


End file.
